Ouch and Betting on the Weather

My poor mom. She was making her way through the checkout lane at Cub Foods a few days ago when a couple of young kids, maybe 5 to 6 years old, cut her off and caused her to fall and hit her face on the floor. Several people (including the mother of the two little ones) rushed to her aid and eventually got her to her feet then sat her down on a bench so she could assess her injuries. A fall at her age of nearly 84 can be catastrophic but she appears to be ok aside from some swelling and bruising. It could have been so much worse. Tammy urged me to encourage her to go in to be looked at considering she's on a blood thinner but she insists she's fine. We've got a family reunion next Sunday, something we seldom do and we need her there. No more falls allowed for her. Ever!

I've found a nice workout routine that I'm liking a lot. Between my walks, our elliptical and my CompuTrainer, I'm able to have enough variety that I look forward to whatever workout I'm doing on any given day. I didn't skip any days last week which was my goal. My rowing machine waits patiently for the weather to turn bitterly cold before it gets thrown into the mix.

I've been playing a little with Instagram lately. It's a photo-sharing application for smartphones that is becoming quite popular—so popular that Facebook recently made an offer to purchase the company and its 13 employees for 1 billion dollars. The deal has been delayed pending review by the Federal Trade Commission. You can find me here if you're interested.

Typically this time of year I find myself taking notice of how much sooner the sun is setting each night as the summer quietly and determinedly slips away. And with the lessening daylight, I always feel a sense of urgency to get in as many long rides as I can while I still can. But obviously not this year. This year I find myself welcoming the shorter days, knowing that the time when I may be able to ride outdoors again is getting nearer. Or is it? I have a Friday morning appointment to have CT scans of my lungs and pelvis. I follow those up with a meeting with my hematologist the following Monday. I'm hoping to get a better idea of which way the wind is blowing about my hopes to ever come off coumadin and get back on my bike. I suppose it's possible that I'll still be in limbo after our meeting but better that than a definite 'no'.

For the first time in 20 years of working with stained-glass, I'm going to attempt to actually take on a project during the summer months. It's not at all a large project and I'm not sure how successful I'll be at following through on my ambitious intentions but I'm determined to try. The project consists of two panels side by side measuring roughly 13" x 6.5". They'll be mounted in a door leading to a den. Here's the initial design Tammy came up with. I added some chevrons to complete it. All that's left to do before bringing it to life is to decide on colors. Kate and Paul have given us some color choices to work with but would prefer that we surprise them with however it is we choose to splash them onto the piece. Click on the photo to the left to get a feel for where I'm at in the process. The final product may have an entirely different arrangement but this is where it sits today.

Temps continuing in the 90s should help make being outdoors less of a distraction to my work on the project but once they drop back into the 80s all bets are off!